Live beef futures ended the short and thin Friday session with contracts falling $3 to $4.35. Cash trading across the country was reported at $177 so far this week, down $1, with some Northern activity at $280 in the beef, a $2 drop from last week. Feeder cattle also faced sharp weakness, as contracts fell $5.62 to $7.80. The CME Feeder Cattle Index was down 44 cents on Nov. 23 to $225.24.
The delayed USDA Export Sales report indicated 9,988 MT of beef sold during the week of November 16, up slightly from last week’s low total. Export shipments were shown at 15,096 MT, a 6-week high.
USDA had Wholesale Boxed Beef prices higher on Friday afternoon. Choice boxes rose $1.03 to $298.03, with Choice back up $1.14 to $268.76. That widened the Chc/Sel spread to $29.27. Federally Inspected cattle slaughter was estimated at 118,000 head for Friday and 38,000 head for Saturday, taking this week’s total to 538,000 head. That’s down 51,000 head compared to the same week last year. Slaughter YTD is down 4.7% from last year at 29.189 million head.
Dec 23 Oxen closed at $170,250, down $4,225,
Feb 24 Oxen closed at $170,975, down $4,300,
Apr 24 Oxen closed at $173,300, down $4,350,
Nov 23 Feeder Cattle closed at $228.640, down $0.735
Jan 24 Feeder Cow closed at $219,325, down $7,800
As of the date of publication, Alan Brugler did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is for informational purposes only. For more information, please see Barchart’s Disclosure Policy here.
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